May 23, 2006

Over the past 15 months, United States and foreign law enforcement agencies have
targeted international fraudulent mass-marketing schemes in the largest
enforcement operation of its kind. The results of Operation Global Con have
been dramatic – with 565 arrests, both here and abroad.

We all know the annoyance of phone calls, junk mail, and spam and pop-up ads
that bombard us with seemingly incredible financial offers. For millions of
Americans, these intrusions have been more than a nuisance.

In Miami, Florida, for instance, two defendants allegedly duped investors in the
United States and Europe for more than $3 million dollars. Investors in
Discovery Capital believed it to be legitimate because the defendants would
occasionally use funds received from new investors to send out purported
interest and dividends. Allegedly, the rest of the money went to fancy cars
and million-dollar homes for the defendants.

In the United States alone, law enforcement conducted 96 investigations into
this kind of criminal conduct – and arrested nearly 140 people. Along the way,
nearly 3 million victims have been defrauded of more than $1 billion dollars.

We’ve succeeded by working together with our international allies – including
authorities in Canada, Costa Rica, the Netherlands, and Spain – to take down
even more criminals abroad. Among other supportive countries have been the
United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Nigeria.

This close cooperation enabled us to develop virtual task forces. Cutting-edge
technology enables us to reduce the actual exchange of personnel typical of
international task forces. Our virtual task forces with Costa Rica and the
Netherlands provide a new model for bringing international con artists to
justice.

In such a massive effort, we have many people to thank. From our foreign
partners I’d like to thank the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Costa Rica
Attorney General’s Office, the Costa Rica Judicial Investigation Organization,
the Amsterdam Police, the Dutch Public Prosecutor, the Competition Bureau of
Industry Canada, the Phone Busters National Call Center in Canada, and our six
joint U.S.-Canadian task forces across Canada.

I’d also like to thank our American partners — the U.S. Postal Inspection
Service, Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement, and the Federal Trade Commission, plus the Diplomatic Security
Service, Department of Commerce Inspector General, Internal Revenue Service –
Criminal Investigation, and Commodity Futures Trading Commission, along with 30
U.S. Attorneys Offices and the Criminal and Tax Divisions of the U.S. Department
of Justice.

Thank you all for your cooperation in this fight for consumers everywhere.